Secrets
by Shes.My.Hatchet.Pie
Summary: The golden trio return to Hogwarts for their final year. Secrets are exposed when Draco Malfoy seeks redemption for his actions in the war. H/D slash. Rated R for later content. R/Herm peppered throughout.


Draco Malfoy entered Gringotts, heels clicking on the newly repaired marble flooring. He approached a particularly gnarly looking goblin named Bzunak and requested that he be taken to his newly acquired vault. The goblin hobbled forward and showed him to a cart. The cart screeched forward onward to what used to be the most boring ride of his life, one that he had taken numerous times with his now late father. He arrived shortly, noticing quite a bit of work having been done in this particular part of the bank. Stepping out of the cart he thanked the goblin and let him know that he would be a while, and he would notify them when he had finished. He turned about face and unlocked all that had been left to him: the Malfoy Family fortune. He made his way inside to what was less of a vault and more of a well reinforced hall. Inside was complete shambles; riches and valuables had been spilled everywhere. Draco was unsurprised in that his vault was situated just next his aunt Bellatrix's, however he was disturbed as he had more than a handful of memories of his father counting, sorting stacking. The once organized hall of fortune was now just a pile of what Draco now saw as bits of metal... Now left to his own devices, the young man picked up a handful of galleons at his feet and stuffed them into a leather satchel.  
After quite a while, the hall was readied. He notified Bzunak that he finished by sending up a flare, and a cart was sent for him at once. The ride back up to the surface was freeing. He thanked the goblin and handed him a piece of parchment. "If you would, sir, please follow these instructions. I shall revisit next week to see it has been completed."  
"We shall see to it, Master Malfoy." The goblin nodded and turned away. Draco exited the bank, and took a deep breath of air.

Harry rubbed his eyes, happy that he had not woken up to another nightmare. The morning sun careened through the curtains, pressuring him up and out. There were crashes coming from the kitchen letting him know that Mrs Weasley was already cooking breakfast. His feet hit the floor and he made his way onward, rubbing his eyes. The halls of Grimmauld Place had lightened up since Mrs. Weasley and Hermione had given them a little sprucing up. He stepped into the kitchen and was immediately handed a warm mug.  
"Cup o' tea, love?" Mrs Weasley rushed past towards a cast iron skillet of eggs and ham, "Owl arrived this morning with the post and a letter addressed to you. Ronald mind yourself!" Ron turned away from Hermione and blush, "Mum!"  
"Don't you mum me. Hermione, dear, pass the salt, please." She turned back to the stove top."  
Harry sat down and took a deep breath of the steam. He rather appreciated Mrs. Weasley's mothering nature, it made him feel a little less like he was cheated out of having parents. He set the cup down and pushed the post away, he had definitely had enough of the Ministry as of late. It had only been a breif round of litigation before the Minister of Magic personally decreed that any and all fines collected from the legal action following the war would be used to restore all damages incurred by the opposition. Among paying for medical care and placing orphaned children, restoring Hogwarts was the Ministry's top priorities. Although Headmistress McGonagall was offering Charms and Transfiguration credits in exchange for lending a hand in its reconstruction over the summer with the funds, it would be a long wait to board the Hogwarts Express, as he was obligated to be involved in an enormity of legal action against Death Eaters. This left Harry little precious time to recover- most of which were filled with offers to become a board member, a Quidditch announcer- even an auror... Harry had put a great amount of wards against owls carrying mail with job offers, fan mail, curses,what have you... so he was curious as to what sort of a letter was able to get through those barriers. The envelope was cream in color, cleanly sealed with a green wax. He pulled it open revealing a letter with sharp handwritting: Dear Mr Potter,

I have recently come into a great deal of money. Because of the circumstances surrounding this fortune, I feel it not sensible for me to keep it. I did try to donate it to the Ministry's fund to give relief to war survivors, however it was rejected. Therefore I have split this fortune between four vaults, yours, the Weasly Family vault, Miss Hermione Granger's vault and a vault created on the Weasley Family's behalf to rebuild the home that they lost. Additionally, I have purchased a flat in muggle London for Miss Granger. I ask you to take these riches with good humor, as I have no need for them.

Sincerely Yours, Draco Malfoy Harry stared at the letter a moment in utter disbelief, this was, of course, broken when Mrs. Weasley slid a plate of breakfast between his elbows. He looked up to her and smiled lightly, "Mrs. Weasley..."  
"Yes, dearie?" She handed the pepper to Ron. "I'd like us all to take a trip to Diagon Alley this morning if that's alright..."  
"Just as well. I received your letters yesterday and I'd like to get to the book store before all the used ones run out. I'll floo the Longbottoms' to have Ginny meet us over there. Always with that Neville boy these days..." She turned around and flicked her wand at the dishes, and they began doing themselves.  
Harry took a large bite of toast, smiling. This would be a very lovely trip to Diagon Alley.

A very persistent small owl began pecking at the window outside they greying walls of Draco's room. He walked over to the window and unlocked it just briefly enough for the owl to come in. There was a rolled up piece of parchment tied to its leg. He opened it hastily, as he was not expecting a letter from anyone... even his mother was restricted to one letter a month. He unrolled it revealing a very sloppily written letter signed 'H. J. Potter.' Dear Mr Malfoy, I received your letter this morning. I am writing this in haste, as I've insisted upon going to get our school supplies today...I want to thank you wholeheartedly on behalf of my friends. And although money cannot buy you the world, the troubles and stresses associated with its shortage can push a bad situation into a horrible one. I can safely say that although your intentions were to send it to the general welfare of the war relief efforts, where it is going it will be put to great use.  
I feel though, that perhaps your expression of gratitude or perhaps guilt are a tad misplaced. I do know that you stood on trial for war crimes and were acquitted based upon my general testimony to the ministry. Please know that I did not free you from a life in Askaban, you did. Your good actions. I simply told the truth. If you cannot come to any other conclusion from recent events, please let it be this: The truth will set you free. If you have the time, please do join us in Diagon Alley... I'm certain Mrs Weasley would love to hear about your plans to reconstruct the Burrow from you.  
Sincerely, H. J. Potter A mixed smile crossed his face. He turned his head towards his all but abandoned wardrobe. 'Hopefully you're right...'

Harry stood in the middle of Gringotts, having been the very first to return from his vault. The goblins were watching him like a hawk- probably for good reason. He noticed that the clean up in the lobby had gone exceptionally well. The new flooring was more sparkling with flecks of gold here and there and the old counters where they weighed and counted were replaced and polished... To be honest, perhaps a dragon crashing through the floor wasn't all bad news for the bank. Well, at least according to a Wizard he supposed. "Harry!" He heard Hermione call from behind him. He turned around to see her carrying an elongated slip of parchment. "Harry did you know about this?"  
He took the paper from her, smiling. It read, 'Deed of Property, 7586 1/2 SE Wobble Way, Devon, England, Property of Hermione G Granger.' "Just since this morning..."  
"What-"  
"Malfoy... Just wait until Mrs Weasley returns..." He handed the paper back to her, "He inherited some money with all the recent events and did not find it suitable to keep it... the Ministry wouldn't take it, so he transferred a few things into our vaults"  
"Are you serious..." She looked down at the paper again, "This is in Devon... I do wonder how close this is to the Burrow." She looked closer at the paper, "It looks like this may have been an old family property. I wonder what it looks like..." She shifted her purse on her arm, "And... they enlarged my vault because of the large deposit."  
"Mine too..." Mrs Weasley and Ron settled beside the two, both very quiet. "Ready for shopping?"  
"Harry, dear... When I asked to go to my vault I was asked which one... Did you happen to know anything about this?" Mrs Weasley spoke up. "Well... I received a letter this morning..."  
She suddenly hugged Harry tight, "I think things will be back to normal soon." There was a sparkle in her eyes that he had not seen in quite some time. "Lets go, dearie. We have quite a bit of shopping to do today."  
"Alright then." The very cheery bunch made their way into Diagon Alley.

Draco had readied himself immediately. It had been quite some time since he had been out and about and quite some time since a wizard of his age could be out and about unattended. He had worried, though, that he could only ever remember how to get to Diagon Alley through Nocturn Alley- which, at this point, had been entirely disbanded. He hoped the floo would take him where he wanted to go. He threw the old powder into the ground and said uncertainly, "Diagon Alley," and when he stepped out of the floo he could not believe his eyes. The alley was bustling jovially with witches and wizards of all ages- once more the shop windows were alight with baubles of this and that. It was as if he were eleven again, shopping for his first year at Hogwarts.  
It wasn't long before he spotted a mob of redheads just outside Florence Florentiene's Ice Cream Shop. He approached the group very cautiously. He was almost thankful that he caught Granger's eyes first, although the guilt of the word 'Mudblood,' rang through his mind suddenly. "Granger." He nodded his head.  
"Malfoy!" He had never really seen her smile before, but her grin glowed. The rest of the group turned to him with a mix of expressions. "I can't believe you've done all this. Thank you."  
"My pleasure, Granger. I hope it suits you."  
"Mr Malfoy" Mrs Weasley gushed, and took him into an embrace that he was very much not expecting. Although her hug was rather tight he found it rather comforting, "I cannot believe Lucius turned out such a good egg."  
He was released, and smiled impishly, "My family has caused enough displeasure for yours ma'am..."  
She patted his shoulder, "I'm sure this will be the beginning of the Malfoy and Weasley families again becoming allies."  
Draco looked towards Ron, whose stare was a bit more icy. "I'm sorry, Weasley. For everything."  
"You're still a ferret face-"  
"Ronald!" Hermione and Mrs Weasley chimed in at once.  
"Apology accepted. Although I won't be hugging you..."  
Draco smirked, "Perfectly acceptable." He looked at Harry, not really being able to come up with something to say other than, "I-uh- got your letter..."  
Harry shifted on his feet, "Good." He nodded. "I'll be going but I just wanted to make sure Gringotts had done as promised... Uh... have a good time shopping... And Mrs Weasley, my contractors should be contacting you via owl soon, so..."  
"Of course, dearie. Thank you." She smiled softly, "Now let us know if you need anything. I know young men can go astray whilst shopping." She looked back to Ron who was fidgeting with a golden snitch.  
"Thanks ma'am." Draco turned away, hoping that this would mean his impending year at Hogwarts would be less... hostile than years before.


End file.
